BODY-WEARABLE MEDICAL DEVICE WITH A SEALING ELEMENT

Abstract

A body-wearable medical device has first and second housing portions. The first housing portion has a female portion and the second housing portion has a male portion. The male portion is at least partially inserted into the female portion, thereby defining a circumferential clearance gap. A circumferential sealing element is arranged in the circumferential clearance gap between the female portion and the male portion. In order to provide a body-wearable medical device with improved sealing that is less prone to failure by stress and forces exerted on the body-wearable medical device, the female portion and the male portion are fixed to each other by a circumferential fixation glue arranged in the circumferential clearance gap between the female portion and the male portion next to the circumferential sealing element.

Claims

1. A body-wearable medical device, comprising: a first housing portion having a female portion and a second housing portion having a male portion, the male portion being at least partially inserted into the female portion, thereby defining a circumferential clearance gap; and a circumferential sealing element arranged in the circumferential clearance gap between the female portion and the male portion; wherein the female and male portions are fixed to each other by a circumferential fixation glue arranged in the circumferential clearance gap between the female and male portions next to the circumferential sealing element.

2. The body-wearable medical device according to claim 1, wherein the sealing element is a sealing glue having a smaller elastic modulus than the fixation glue.

3. The body-wearable medical device according to claim 1, wherein the sealing element comprises an O-ring arranged in the circumferential clearance gap between the female and male portions and circumscribes the male portion.

4. The body-wearable medical device according to claim 1, wherein the fixation glue discontinuously circumscribes the male portion within the circumferential clearance gap between the female portion and the male portion.

5. The body-wearable medical device according to claim 4, wherein the discontinuously circumscribing fixation glue is evenly distributed along the circumference of the male portion.

6. The body-wearable medical device according to claim 1, wherein the circumferential clearance gap is formed by a circumferential recess of the male portion and/or a circumferential recess of the female portion.

7. The body-wearable medical device according to claim 1, wherein the second housing portion comprises a free-end portion facing away from the first housing portion, wherein the sealing element is located closer to the free-end portion than the fixation glue.

8. The body-wearable medical device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second housing portions form a watertight compartment.

9. The body-wearable medical device according to claim 1, wherein in a cross-sectional view, the circumferential clearance gap forms a rectangular or elliptic shape circumscribing the male portion.

10. The body-wearable medical device according to claim 9, wherein the rectangular or elliptic shape comprises a first extension extending in one direction and a second extension extending in a second direction, wherein the first extension is at least 1.5 times larger than the second extension in the second direction.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The above-mentioned aspects of exemplary embodiments will become more apparent and will be better understood by reference to the following description of the embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0021] FIG. 1 shows a schematic longitudinal view of a body-wearable medical device;

[0022] FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the body-wearable medical device according to FIG. 1;

[0023] FIG. 3 shows a schematic longitudinal view of a body-wearable medical device according to a further embodiment; and

[0024] FIG. 4 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the body-wearable medical device according to FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION

[0025] The embodiments described below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may appreciate and understand the principles and practices of this disclosure.

[0026] FIGS. 1 and 2 show a body-wearable medical device 1 according to a first embodiment. FIG. 1 shows a schematic longitudinal view of the body-wearable medical device 1, while FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the body-wearable medical device 1 along line A-A.

[0027] The body-wearable medical device 1 comprises a first housing portion 2 and a second housing portion 3. The first housing portion 2 comprises a female portion 2a and the second housing portion 3 comprises a male portion 3a. The male portion 3a is at least partially inserted into the female portion 2a, i.e., the female portion 2a forms a receiving portion for accommodating the male portion 3a of the second housing portion 3.

[0028] A clearance gap 4 is provided between the male portion 3a and the female portion 2a, wherein the clearance gap 4 circumscribes the male portion 3a. In this embodiment, the clearance gap 4 is at least partially formed by a circumferential recess 3b of the male portion 3a and a circumferential recess 2b of the female portion 2a. The circumferential recess 3b of the male portion 3a and the circumferential recess 2b of the female portion 2a are facing each other.

[0029] The female portion 2a and the male portion 3a are fixed to each other by a fixation glue 6 that is evenly distributed within the clearance gap 4 along the circumference of the male portion 3a. Next to the fixation glue, a sealing element 5, here a sealing glue, is provided within the clearance gap 4. The sealing element 5 is continuously distributed along the circumference of the male portion 3a and in sealing contact with the female portion 2a and the male portion 3a.

[0030] The second housing portion 3, i.e., the housing portion comprising the male portion 3a, comprises a free-end 3c portion that faces away from the first housing portion 2, i.e., the housing portion comprising the female portion 2a. The sealing element 5 is arranged closer to the free-end 3c portion than the fixation glue 6. In a direction of insertion of the male portion 3a into the female portion 2b, the sealing element 5 forms an outer boundary while the fixation glue 6 forms an inner fixation means for holding the male portion 3a in fixed position relative to the female portion 2a.

[0031] The first housing portion 2 and the second housing portion 3 together form a watertight compartment 8.

[0032] A second embodiment of a body-wearable medical device 1 is shown by FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 shows a longitudinal view of the body-wearable medical device 1, while FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the body-wearable medical device 1 along line B-B.

[0033] The body-wearable medical device 1 according FIGS. 3 and 4 differs from the body-wearable medical device 1 according to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 by having a different configuration of the fixation glue 6.

[0034] The fixation glue 6 discontinuously circumscribes the male portion 3a within the circumferential gap 4 between the female portion 2a and the male portion 3a. The fixation glue 6 is formed by multiple fixation glue elements that are evenly distributed along the circumference of the male portion 3a. The multiple fixation glue elements forming the fixation glue 6 are indicated in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 4 in broken line for illustrative purposed only as the fixation glue elements are arranged underneath the sealing element 5 and would not be visible in the cross-section along line B-B.

[0035] The circumferential clearance gap 4 forms a rectangular-like shape having a first extension 9 in a first direction and a second extension 10 in a second direction. The first extension is at least 1.5 times, here 2 times, larger than the second extension 10 in the second direction. The first direction and the second direction are perpendicular to each other.

[0036] While exemplary embodiments have been disclosed hereinabove, the present invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Instead, this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of this disclosure using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0037] 1 body-wearable medical device [0038] 2 first housing portion [0039] 2a female portion [0040] 2b circumferential recess of female portion [0041] 3 second housing portion [0042] 3a male portion [0043] 3b circumferential recess of male portion [0044] 3c free-end portion of male portion [0045] 4 circumferential clearance gap [0046] 5 circumferential sealing element [0047] 6 circumferential fixation glue [0048] 7 O-ring [0049] 8 compartment [0050] 9 first extension in first direction [0051] 10 second extension in second direction